The End of Life Care Pan-London Alliance will bring together key partners from clinical commissioning groups, local authorities, NHS, independent providers, the voluntary sector and patient and carers groups, with the aim of improving end of life care for individuals, carers and their families in London.
The 2011 national VOICES survey of bereaved relatives rated overall quality of care across all services lower in London than in any other part of the country.
London also has a higher-than-average number of people dying in hospital and the highest average length of hospital stay for people with a terminal illness, compared to other regions in England.
The Alliance aims to “support and promote the local development and implementation of effective end of life integrated care commissioning and delivery models across London which translates into a better end of life care experience for individuals, carers and their families.”
The Alliance will:
- Provide a forum for the sharing of good practice and dialogue across London.
- Identify issues and barriers to local success such as workforce and training which require national and regional input and agree approaches and activity to address these.
- Provide a strategic overview of the current health and social care landscape in order that the levers available within the system are utilised fully with this agenda so that it can work towards a target for improvement in end of life across London.
The End of Life Care Pan-London Alliance is supported by an Executive Steering Group who will provide oversight and prioritise activities. The founding members are ADASS (London) Directors of Adult Social Services, Marie Curie and NHS England (London).
John Powell, End of Life London ADASS Lead and Director of Adult Social Services Redbridge, said: “An important role of the Alliance is to influence commissioners and providers of care to improve the experience of Londoners as they approach end of life. Working together I believe the Alliance can facilitate changes that empower individuals to have choice and control over their end of life plans. For many this relates to where they wish to die and there is real strength within the Alliance that can influence service delivery to help make this happen and so I am delighted that London ADASS and leaders within Social Care are fully engaged in this exciting London region development.”
Dr Jane Collins, Marie Curie Chief Executive, said: “Whilst there are pockets of good practice, many Londoners are still not receiving the care they need or want. The End of Life Care Pan-London Alliance has the potential to be a real game changer and transform end of life care across London. As a leading end of life care charity and founding member of the Alliance we are committed to ensuring that the right care and support is delivered to the right people, at the right time, in the right place.”
Dr Andy Mitchell, Medical Director for NHS England (London), said: “Londoners deserve quality healthcare that is right for them – from the start of life, through to the end. It’s simply not right that seven out of 10 people would prefer to die at home, but in reality only around three in 10 patients in London do – the lowest proportion nationally.
“There are some fantastic examples of excellent end of life care across our capital, but we want to make these the norm. This pioneering new Alliance will enable the NHS and health partners to develop services that truly respond to what patients and their families want during the most difficult of times.”
The inaugural meeting of the End of Life Care Pan-London Alliance – “Driving up quality and outcomes of end of life care” – takes place today (22 November) at The King’s Fund. It will include presentations from key note speakers and round robin learning and networking opportunities with key local stakeholders.
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